Hank Azaria
Henry Albert Azaria (/əˈzɛəriə/ ə-ZAIR-ee-ə; April 25, 1964, Queens, New York, USA) is an American actor, voice actor, singer, comedian and producer. He is known for his voice characterizations as a variety of characters in the animated sitcom The Simpsons (1989–present), which has included Moe Szyslak, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Chief Wiggum, Comic Book Guy, Carl Carlson and others. After attending Tufts University, he joined the series with little voice acting experience, but became a regular in its second season, with many of his performances on the show being based on famous actors and characters. In addition to his work on The Simpsons, Azaria became more widely known for his live-action appearances in feature films such as The Birdcage (1996), Godzilla (1998), Mystery Men (1999), America's Sweethearts (2001), Shattered Glass (2003), Along Came Polly (2004), Run Fatboy Run (2007), Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009) and The Smurfs (2011). Since 2017, he has starred as the titular character in Brockmire. Azaria had recurring roles on the television series Mad About You and Friends, as the titular character in the drama Huff (2004–2006) and appeared in the popular stage musical Spamalot. Originally known as a comedic actor, he has also taken on more dramatic roles, including the TV films Tuesdays With Morrie (1999) and Uprising (2001). He has won six Emmys and a Screen Actors Guild Award. He was married to actress Helen Hunt from 1999 to 2000 and has been married to actress Katie Wright since 2007. Azaria became famous for his voice work in the ongoing animated television series The Simpsons. He joined the show having previously performed only one voice-over—as the titular animated dog in the failed Fox pilot Hollywood Dog, a show he described as "sort of Roger Rabbit-esque, where the dog was animated, but everybody else was real." The first voice he performed on The Simpsons was that of town bartender Moe Szyslak, replacing Christopher Collins who had initially recorded the character's voice. Having known him from Hollywood Dog, casting director Bonita Pietila called Azaria and asked him to audition for the voice of Moe. At the time he was performing the role of a drug dealer in a play, utilizing a voice based on actor Al Pacino's performance in the film Dog Day Afternoon. He used the voice in his audition for The Simpsons and, at the request of the show's executive producers Matt Groening and Sam Simon, made the voice more "gravelly". Groening and Simon thought the resultant voice was ideal for Moe and took Azaria over to the Fox recording studio. Before he had even seen a script, he recorded several lines of dialogue as Moe for the episode "Some Enchanted Evening", dubbing Collins' voice. Azaria did not expect to hear from the show again, but they continued to call him back, first to perform the voice of Chief Wiggum and then Apu Nahasapeemapetilon.4 He felt that, initially, "producers didn't seem too pleased with what I had done...Simon was very exacting...and was kind of impatiently directing me on the ABCs of comedy. But then, much to my surprise, he would still keep having me back every week. But each week, I thought it was going to be my last week because I really didn't think I had done that well." Nevertheless, by the show's second season he was performing multiple recurring voices and so was given a contract and made a permanent member of the main cast. Since he joined later than the rest of the cast, Groening still considered Azaria the "new guy". In addition to Moe, Wiggum and Apu, Azaria provides the voices of Comic Book Guy, Carl Carlson, Cletus Spuckler, Professor Frink, Dr. Nick Riviera, Lou, Snake Jailbird, Kirk Van Houten, the Sea Captain, Superintendent Chalmers, Disco Stu, Duffman, the Wiseguy and numerous one-time characters. His co-star in The Simpsons, Nancy Cartwright, wrote that: "The thing about Hank that I most remember is that he started out so unassuming and then, little by little, his abilities were revealed and his contributions to the show escalated. I realized Hank was going to be our breakaway star." Category:Actors from USA